1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to cushion devices, and particularly to cushion devices for facilitating the healing of a wound through support of the heel of a foot or an elbow.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to provide protective pads for parts of a human body subject to bedsores because of long periods of confinement to bed. Such pads are usually made with soft elastic material. Good examples are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,216,417 of Nov. 9, 1965; 3,721,237 of Mar. 20, 1973; 3,490,450 of Jan. 20, 1970; and 4,471,770 of Sept. 18, 1984.
It is seen that body support cushions having inflatable cells have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,605,145 of Sept. 20, 1971 and 4,005,236 of Jan. 25, 1977.
The problems with the types of protective pads made up of flexible materials is that they present continuous surfaces which do not fully conform to the shape of the body, nor can any generate hydrostatic counter forces. They also rub on the body when body movement occurs. The friction effect is quite similar to plain bed sheets which are known to cause tissue damage leading to the development of bedsores. Thus, the use of soft flexible materials including lambs wool pads, as in the prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,471,770, has not solved the problem of eliminating bedsores since they do not generate a high degree of synthesis of fluid floatation, nor can they effectively facilitate the healing of a bedsore.
An improved approach to the problem of eliminating bedsores, as well as facilitate the healing of an open wound is disclosed in the body support cushion device that presents an array of fluid inflated cells forming a support surface. In such cushion devices each cell has six degrees of freedom and are distributed over an area of a size to accommodate the portion of the body and producing an adjustable hydrostatic like support through adjusting the pressure in the cells. The pads can be made flat which are then easily shaped to the contour of human feet or elbows. There is also a need for pads that have the ability to be preconformed to various shapes and therefore the pads can be formed into concave shapes having spherical dimensions.